Ghosts of the deep: Air France bodies located
Bodies of those killed in Air France’s 2009 plane crash off Brazil are expected to be recovered within weeks, French officials say.
The flight went down in the Atlantic, killing all 228 people on board. The cause of the disaster remains unknown.
Undersea robots finally uncovered a large part of the wreckage, including bodies, on Sunday.
Investigators also hope they will be able to locate the “black box†which might provide clues on the causes of the crash.
While previous search missions pulled some wreckage and victims from the sea, the recorders were not found.
French Transport Minister Nathalie Kosciusco-Morizet told reporters, “The phase involving the raising of the aircraft could be launched within three weeks to a month.”
She added, “Bodies have been located on the spot. These bodies will be raised and will be identified.”
Officials say relatives will be kept informed of the operation’s progress.
The Paris-bound Air France jet came down hours after it took off from Rio de Janeiro on 1 June.
Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said, “We do hope that this discovery will lead to the retrieval and the reading of the two recorders because these data are essential for the understanding of this accident.”
Air France and Airbus have both said they disagree with the preliminary manslaughter charges that were laid against them last month by a French investigating judge.
France is one of the few countries in the world where fatal accidents automatically prompt criminal probes that run alongside investigations by aviation authorities.
Ian Jarrett
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